Editor's Notepad

Should vinyl siding be installed over furring strips?

comments (3) April 18th, 2012 in Blogs

Scott Gibson, contributing writer

Vinyl Siding Over Furring Strips
A Q&A post wonders whether vinyl siding should be installed over furring strips. Although some builders apparently do so, advice from manufacturers seems contradictory.

Add Comment
Print

Adding a layer or rigid foam insulation to the exterior of a conventionally insulated house can be a major step forward for energy conservation. The foam reduces thermal bridging, the loss of heat through wall framing, and means a significant boost in overall R-values. As a result, these wall assemblies are becoming more common.

More from greenbuildingadvisor.com

VIDEO: Vented Rain Screen Siding Assemblies

Fastening Furring Strips to a Foam-Sheathed Wall

Calculating the Minimum Thickness of Rigid Foam Sheathing

Avoiding the Global Warming Impact of Insulation

Builders typically add furring strips over the foam, then install the siding. The furring provides a sound base for the siding, and also creates an air space behind the siding, which aids drying.

Although a frequent question is how the furring strips should be attached to the house, Sonny Chatum has an entirely different question: Is this technique appropriate for vinyl siding?

Writing in a post at GreenBuildingAdvisor's Q&A forum, Chatum wonders how the siding itself will hold up under those circumstances. Will the gaps between furring strips adversely affect the siding? On this issue, there seems to be no clear answer.

Although the Vinyl Siding Instittute seems to endorse the practice, Chatum gets conflicting advice from representatives of CertainTeed. Chatum is convinced he's not the only person who's faced this dilemma. He's just not sure where to get the right answer.

Read the whole story in this month's Q&A Spotlight.

posted in: Blogs, insulation, siding

Add Comment Print

The Trade-Offs of Downsizing

Back to List

The Downside of Using Structural Steel

Comments (3)

Forbsy writes: I just re-newed the siding on one wall of my house. I recently tore down an attached garage (which had been constructed long before I came along and sided the house wall) meaning the wall of the garage joined up to the house with no possible way to get siding between it and the house. With the old garage down and the area cleared away I was able to fully clad the house wall with Dow Blue and tape all the joints. I considered strapping over the insulation with furring strips, but my concern was, in the future if some one placed say a ladder against the siding and then the individuals weight on top (especially in our cold northern winters putting up the Christmas lights) would the vinyl crack or distort or who knows what. I didn't think it was worth the risk, my siding went straight on over top of the Dow Blue. The home centre salesman recommended using 2" siding nails to go through the insulation board into the wall sheathing substrate. I should point out in re-newing the siding, I'd used this method previously on this same wall about ten years before the reno and when I removed the siding and insulation to make it all uniform, there had been no damage weather wise or from condensation under the previous installation, and the siding still looked crisp and sharp.
Posted: 7:29 am on April 23rd

peterperker writes: Thank you for helpful vinyl posting. I have got advantage
from installed vinyl over furring stripes.
nice posting and continue.
Posted: 7:18 am on April 23rd

james1422 writes: I have been a siding installer for over 20 years and have used this method a number of times with out any adverse effects.One thing to watch for is ware you place your overlaps and nail loose.
Posted: 8:37 am on April 20th

You must be logged in to post comments. Log in.

Stay connected with Fine Homebuilding